


How Freedom Feels

by Kaitiedid



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Figuring out family relationships, Gen, Just some 'droids enjoying life, Kara is a good mom, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Shopping Trip, for- you guessed it-, grand pillow fort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-02 05:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16780078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaitiedid/pseuds/Kaitiedid
Summary: Ever since they settled into their new lives, Kara has found that she appreciates days like this the most. Going shopping with Alice, taking care of her home and family, and the serious business of constructing a pillow fort. They're happy. But there's always room for change and improvement.





	How Freedom Feels

It’s cold in their home at night, and it’s only barely the middle of fall. During the winter, it will be worse. Kara can’t feel it. It isn’t cold enough to slow down her processors. Alice was programmed to react to cold though, so she sets herself an objective as soon as she rises from stasis: buy Alice as many warm blankets as she wants. 

They can do that now, she thinks, smiling, as she watches Alice tie her shoes. Buy things, enjoy things, be out in the world. Everything she wants for her daughter. 

“I’m ready, Mom,” Alice announces, bouncing in place. She’s a much happier child than she was only months ago, and Kara is thankful. She holds her hand out, squeezing gently when Alice takes it. 

They step out into the chilly fall air. Everything seems dull now, the vivid colors of spring gone dormant for another year. The sky is a cold flat grey. All of the leaves have gone brown on the ground, slick with rain from last night. Alice’s bright pink jacket stands out starkly. It pleases her for reasons she can’t quite define. Feelings are still a little hard to understand, but she’s getting better at it. 

“When’s Luther coming home?”

“After work,” she answers, lifting her hand so Alice can stomp on a leaf pile with both feet. She loves watching her interact with the world so openly, not afraid anymore. Just being a kid. “He’ll be home in time for dinner.”

Alice hums and chats all the way to the bus station, retelling the plotline of her newest favourite book. She quiets when the bus gets crowded, but it’s not out of fear, but shyness. Kara smiles, watching her observe the world fly by through the window. 

After disembarking, they find the store after a short walk. Alice’s face lights up when she sees the rows of stuffed toys through the window. She starts pulling Kara forward, then suddenly stops, looking guilty. 

That won’t do. Kara takes the lead, guiding her daughter inside, to the toy aisle. “Did you see someone you liked?”

Her eyes quickly flit to a brown cat and away. Kara waits patiently. It will be good to get Alice to ask for things she wants. 

“You can bring one new friend home,” she says. Maybe it would be best to give her permission first. Small steps. 

Alice smiles, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. A success, then. She points at the cat. “I like him,” she says shyly. Kara stands on her tiptoes, reaching. If he were here, Luther would be able to reach it easily, she notes in amusement. She snags the cat’s leg, and Alice beams when she hugs it. 

“Let’s find some blankets,” she says. “It will start to get cold soon.”

They find the aisle easily enough, and spend more time than necessary running their hands over the different fabrics. Kara likes the way the fibers feel against her external sensors. Before everything, it had just been input, only there long enough to check that the clothes were clean or soft enough for Alice and Todd. Now she can press on a bundle of fleece simply because she enjoys it. 

“Mom, I don’t think these are long enough,” Alice says, holding up a green blanket. There’s a cardboard scroll around the centre. 

“This one is five feet long,” she reads off, amused, touching the top of Alice’s head. “That’s more than enough for you.”

“But what about  _ Luther _ ?” she insists, frowning at the blanket. “It won’t even cover his legs!”

Kara holds back a laugh, hiding a smile behind her fingertips. She’ll have to share this memory with Luther when he returns. “These are for small people,” she agrees after a moment, “like you and me. We’ll pick some for you, and then we’ll look at the bigger ones, okay?”

That pleases her, and they spend a while browsing. It’s serious business, picking blankets. Alice tells her, very seriously, that they have to make a fort when they get home. By the time they make it to the row with the bed sets, Kara is wishing that she’d thought to grab a cart. It’s too easy to spoil her daughter when she’s bright and engaged like this. 

“We’ll have to move the furniture,” she says thoughtfully, already planning. Alice perks up, bouncing excitedly. 

“Luther’s strong! He can do it.” 

“Maybe if we ask nicely,” she says conspiratorially. 

Picking out the sets is easy. They get an incredulous look from the cashier at the sheer amount of bedding they pile on the conveyor belt, but nothing can dim their spark of excitement. 

  
  


They stack the new blankets on the sofa when they get home. Alice runs to her room to introduce her new friend to her fox while Kara tends to the house. She likes having a place that she can claim as her own, and keeping it neat is more than rewarding, even without her base programming. This is their home; they fought hard for it, and she’s going to take care of it. 

She’s bringing in the laundry when the door opens. 

“I’m home,” Luther calls, his deep voice carrying easily through the house. From the hallway, there is a clatter and the patter of small feet. Alice bursts into the living room, a stuffed animal in either arm, already in her pyjamas. 

“Luther! We have to make a fort!”

“Alice,” Kara admonishes lightly from the doorway. She tries not to smile. 

“Sorry,” she says sheepishly. In a nicer tone, she asks, “Can you please help me make a fort? We got blankets.”

Luther laughs and tells her of course he will, since she asked so nicely. Kara sets her basket on the counter, stepping up to kiss Luther in greeting. Her hand finds his, skin pulled back, offering an interface. He accepts easily, eyes lighting up when she shares the memory file. His laugh resonates through their connection, making her systems heat. She squeezes his hand, lingering, until Alice comes to pull him away. 

After putting the clothes away, Kara gets to work on dinner for Alice, listens to their daughter instruct Luther on where to move each piece of furniture. He follows her commands without complaint, no matter how many times she changes her mind. 

“Dinner is ready,” she calls, setting the table. She waits a second before peeking through the archway. 

The living room has completely transformed into the most elaborate pillow fort she’s seen. It takes up an entire corner, and its construction includes every blanket and pillow in the house, even the guest linens that haven’t left the closet since they were purchased. Luther is painstakingly angling an armchair to form a doorway, trying not to collapse the roof. 

“Okay…. And stop!” Alice’s voice originates from somewhere within the fortress, delighted with the new position. Her head pokes out from the entrance, beaming when she sees Kara. “We did it!”

Kara smiles. There’s warmth in her chest, sending waves through her systems. She’s felt these often enough that she knows the names by heart. Happiness. Contentment and pride. But more than anything, love for her small, beautiful family. 

“I see this. It’s wonderful, you two did a good job. Now come get dinner so you can give me a tour later.”

  
  


It’s an amusing thing, to see Luther wiggle his body in and out of the fort. Alice made sure the doorway was big enough for him, but the blankets of the roof keep getting caught on his broad shoulders. When he settles in with them, his head pushes them upwards, like the center pole of a circus tent. He takes up nearly the whole of the fort. She and Alice lean against him, shamelessly using him as a pillow. He smiles down at them, offering a hand for either of them to hold. 

Alice reads them a section of  _ Alice in Wonderland _ , and Kara doesn’t mind, even if they’ve read it a hundred times over. Halfway through the argument on how to properly behead the Cheshire Cat, she yawns and rubs her eyes. Sharing a look with Luther, she sits up, gently slipping the book off her lap to mark the page. 

“Do you want to sleep in here tonight?” she asks knowingly. Alice nods, hugging her new friend to her chest. 

“You too,” she says. Following her eyes, Kara finds that their bed set from the master bedroom is laid out next to what used to be the sofa. 

“I think we can do that,” she says, smiling softly. Alice turns, crawling to the narrowest, lowest part of the fort where her blankets are arranged in a nest. Kara follows, tucking her in, pressing a kiss to her forehead, and then her stuffed animals when prompted. She shifts backwards until she finds her designated area. Luther moves to join her until Alice sits up, small hand reaching for him. 

“Are you going to come say goodnight, Luther?”

With a great deal of care, he kneels and ducks further into the fort, trying not to knock the whole thing down. 

“Goodnight, Alice,” he says lovingly.

“Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight… Luther.” Alice looks away almost guiltily when Luther kisses her forehead. 

That’s not good. Kara frowns slightly, catching his eye. 

_ Can you give us a moment? _ she asks. He nods, kisses the top of Kara’s head, and leaves the fort, drawing the blankets back into place to give them privacy. Alice looks confused as his footsteps fade away. 

“You know, you could call him something else, if you wanted.” From the way that Alice’s eyes widen, she was spot on in her assumption. She smiles to let her know that it’s more than okay. “He wouldn’t mind, Alice. In fact, I bet he’d love it. But only if you’re comfortable with it.”

“I… want to. But….”

Kara moves to sit closer, waiting patiently. She still has trouble putting words to the things she feels, so she understands. 

“It feels like I shouldn’t. I want to, but I already had a….” She looks up, her nose scrunching up adorably. “He wasn’t nice, but he was… my dad. I loved him, even though he didn’t love me.”

Taking a moment, Kara turns it over in her head. It would be easy to brush it off, tell her to do what she wants, but she wants to explain it properly. Emotions are hard enough without ignoring them. She spots the animals in Alice’s arms, and her eyes light up. “Think of it like your friends here. You love both of them, right?” Alice nods, and it seems like she’s on the right track. “Even though they’re not the same, you love them, and they’re both the same thing, just in different shapes. Does that make sense?”

She looks between them, and nods slowly. “I think so…. Yes.” She looks up, determination in her big brown eyes. “Tell him to come back, please.”

Relieved, she messages Luther. He returns moments later, peeking through the front blankets before carefully crawling back inside to sit next to them. 

“I think you need to redo your goodnight,” Kara tells him innocently, moving back to give him space. He raises his eyebrows, but kneels next to Alice dutifully, tucking her back in. 

“Goodnight, Alice,” he repeats. 

“Goodnight… Dad.”

Kara can only see the side of his face, but she can see his eyes widen, the grin he can’t hide. He kisses her forehead again, almost reverently. 

“Get some sleep, little one. Maybe you’ll be stronger than me tomorrow.”

Laughing, Alice says, “You say that every time!”

“That means you need more sleep.”

Alice pouts exaggeratedly at his teasing, but rolls over to burrow into her nest. He watches her for a second before joining Kara on their blanket. For the second time that day, they interface. No words this time, just feelings. Pure, unadulterated bliss, passed between them without the clunkiness of using words. Without breaking the connection, Kara tips forward, hand on his neck, to kiss him. Slow and sweet and perfect. Their foreheads rest together afterwards, skin fading so they connect at every point. She’s not sure how long they stay like that, smiling softly at each other, feeling and feeling and sharing in the most intimate of ways. 

This. All of it was worth this, for this one perfect day. There are surely other things that will change, not all for the best, but if they can have more days like this, then it was more than worth it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's back with Kara, not even a day later? :'D I love this family and the ridiculous height difference. Will I write something for just Kara/Luther? Maybe. ^ ^' Gotta clear out my WIPs first.   
> Anyway! Come find me on Tumblr @kaitiedidanne or @hero-queen-of-brightwall


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